[00:00:00] James Breese: Strength Matters Media. Video. Print. Podcasts. Okay. Today's
[00:00:06] Josh Kennedy: topic is the keys to being a successful personal trainer in 2024. Um, because we do, we care about you. We want you to be successful in, in the new year. We know the lifespan of an average trainer is 18 months, so we don't want you to suffer the same fate and burnout.
[00:00:21] So learn, learn the lessons from us that we've all learned over the years. And I think this one is targeted more at people maybe. Changing careers or new to the business. James, what would be the number one thing, especially since we've learned this year, working with a lot of trainers that people need to be successful in 2024.
[00:00:42] James Breese: I know we keep banging the drum about this, but it's having a website. It's having a website to stand out and become and look professional in everything that you do. A professional trainer has a professional website where people can find them online, do their research, do their due diligence to make sure you [00:01:00] are who you are.
[00:01:01] And can deliver what you offer and also just anything stand out from the crowd because so many trainers don't have when they're relying on social media, like the other thousands of other trainers out there who all look the same. They're posting the same thing. They're using chat. Gbt to write the same content, posting the same things that how to videos.
[00:01:21] You're not standing out. You can see that and you can notice that. However, people do their due diligence by searching for you on Google and looking after you. And if you haven't got a website that works, that's fast loading and delivers your clear message of what it is you do and who you help, you haven't got a chance.
[00:01:40] Doing anything in 2024 because it's very, very crowded in the marketplace right now.
[00:01:45] Josh Kennedy: Yep, exactly. It's the same for any business or service, isn't it? If you, if you, if they don't have a website, then you don't have that level of trustee. Like, if I wanted to hire an electrician or a plumber for the house or something like that and they didn't have a website, I'd be a bit concerned about [00:02:00] whether they were just a cowboy.
[00:02:01] You know what I mean? So it's like, I don't understand why fitness professionals don't hold themselves in the same high regard and what, you know, why they think having a website is. Not essential. It's, um,
[00:02:12] James Breese: I like that cowboys and there are a lot of cowboys out there in the fitness industry. However, we all get time.
[00:02:19] We all get tired of the same brush. That is the worst thing. It's like, like why people always ask me, when you're getting a real job, what are you going to do? You know, or they, people always think they can do better than you because they don't take you as a professional. They don't take you, they don't take you.
[00:02:35] What's the word? They don't just, they don't trust you. They think they can do better than themselves.
[00:02:40] Josh Kennedy: Well, the fitness industry is the Wild West still, isn't it? It's not regulated enough. There are a lot of cowboys out there, and unfortunately, as you say, we all, we all fall under the, get tarred with the same brush.
[00:02:49] Andrew, anything you want to add to this as well?
[00:02:51] Andrew Wallis: Yeah, I was just going to say, it, it, it, it, it, Is it laziness on our parts that, you know, we don't bother to go and, and [00:03:00] professionalise ourselves and get a website and things, or is it misunderstanding, not not appreciating that, you know, doing things properly will will get us many steps ahead of the perceived competition.
[00:03:14] Those cowboys that we say, um It's something I ponder
[00:03:19] Josh Kennedy: anyway. Yeah, no, that's a very good point. Very good point. Next one. Spend your time and money wisely. And again, mistake that. I've definitely made, I'm sure Andrew and James have made this, you get your PT qualification and then you go, right, I want to do this course and this course and this course.
[00:03:38] I want to get every qualification under the sun. And then what happens? You don't use any of them. Isn't
[00:03:44] James Breese: that right guys? Exactly. I see that. But the other thing I'm seeing quite a lot as well, because I saw it in the gym the other day. There's a brand new trainer who's joined JD Gym in town. I'm a member.
[00:03:55] And you know, the first thing they've done is they've gone and bought themselves a truck [00:04:00] on finance with a big logo on the side of their car saying personal trainer, right? It's like literally he's brand new. He's like 23 years old. He's got a massive car, huge debt now paying paying off. I can see it happening a mile off and he thinks that's going to help him get clients.
[00:04:19] Andrew Wallis: Well, they see the influences, don't they? And, uh, they're, they're preaching from the rooftops, do this, you know, be, be that side of things. And yes, it's important to be, uh, visible to, to your target audience, but there's the wrong way and the right way to do it, um, on that side. And, and Josh, you mentioned about the Sorry, I was going to say, um, Josh, you mentioned about getting your P.
[00:04:42] T. qualification and I remember that myself and it was then what's the next qualification I'm going to take and guys that I work with time and time again, you know, they're on to that next qualification. And as you say, they're not putting it into practice. [00:05:00] And, and those that do have their websites, all the website is, is a list of all the qualifications they get.
[00:05:06] And, and that's just not appealing to, to the audience that you're trying to attract?
[00:05:11] Josh Kennedy: Yeah. No, no client has ever asked me what my qualifications are and what, what courses I've done. So it's like, you know what? What qualifications or certifications are going to provide value to your clients? For us, something like precision nutrition, great nutritional course.
[00:05:28] You've probably done some, a little bit on your PT course, but trust me, it's nowhere near enough. It's nowhere near enough in depth. So you need to get the next, uh, You know, up the ladder, which is precision, something like we would recommend, uh, precision nutrition. So things like that, it's got to provide value to your, to your clients.
[00:05:45] James, anything you want to add
[00:05:46] James Breese: to that as well? No, just exactly that. Just focus on practicality, make sure you get money in the bank first. Like we say it more time and time again. Get out a white belt, which is less than two and a half thousand dollars or pounds a month into blue belt, which is 5, [00:06:00] 000 a month, as fast as possible to give you the space and air that you need to breathe to grow your business and be there for your clients.
[00:06:06] If you don't help yourself, you can't help them, which means doing less other qualifications at the start. Building of a savings pot to then dip into later down the line. So it's like delayed gratification almost in doing these other certs and don't go for more, an extra one or maybe two max a year when you first start out, or even going forward as well, because you can't implement everything at once.
[00:06:27] Everyone tries to do so many things and you just can't implement it all at once. It just doesn't happen that way. So it takes time to try and apply new systems that happen to your own way of doing things. So, yeah, just don't waste your money, fall over and don't, uh, Don't try and add more work to your load in the process.
[00:06:44] Andrew Wallis: I'm a dinosaur when it comes to this. I was qualified back in 2004. So I've been around the block a few times and I'm grateful in the fact that I didn't have money, much money to invest into ongoing. Um, [00:07:00] qualifications initially, so it was you've got to jump in and get experienced. But I'm glad I did that because if I jumped into different qualifications, you know, the bright, shiny objects, um, it might have put me on a different path.
[00:07:13] But as at least getting experience, I was able to. Determine the types of clients I like to work with. Um, and from there I was able to find where the gaps in my knowledge base were so I could fill them with the white boils or the precision nutritions and courses like that. Here's a
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[00:08:08] Josh Kennedy: Yeah. You've got to spend your time in the trenches for sure. You got to do the basics, um, become a hybrid trainer, uh, to help maximize your profit and time. Because as we know. Uh, like I said, burnout is, uh, comes around very quickly and if you are still selling your time for money on a one to one basis, then you are in serious danger of this burnout because, you know, eventually you're going to be maximized with clients, but you're going to want or perhaps need to earn more money for whatever reason, and you're not going to be able to do that.
[00:08:39] So James, what, talk us quickly through it. What are the advantages of being a
[00:08:43] James Breese: hybrid trainer? Yeah, being a hybrid trainer means you have a good grounding in personal training, which people and clients want and they need it. You're not going to, never ever are you going to find better ways to help people in doing one to one training because that's the highest level of service you can do.
[00:08:57] It's as simple as that. However, you need to combine the online training [00:09:00] to add and work with the guys the rest of the week. The other 160 plus hours in the week you needed to do that to give them a better experience. So hybrid training to us is just training. It's just how training should be now in 2024 and beyond.
[00:09:12] It's as simple as that. So whereas every single day I'm starting to see business coaches or online business gurus saying you must be an online trainer to do this, that and the other. It's like, no, you're missing the bigger point. You're selling them the dream of trying to make more money and not putting the clients first.
[00:09:27] Us is about clients first and focusing on the need for the better quality of training to get them the results that they want. And that often means hybrid coaching. So one to two sessions a week, plus the online component to it. And that's how they get results long term. And if they struggle with financial requirements in certain times of the year, they can drop back to just online only.
[00:09:46] So you still have a client, you don't lose that client. It's as simple as that. Alright, so hybrid training will give you more clients. And be able to maximize your time and give you more freedom and flexibility and make you feel less tired and trapped within your business. That's the [00:10:00] key concept of hybrid training.
[00:10:03] It's really important to find that system as fast as you can. But to get to a hybrid system, you need to own in person training first. Have you got a system for in person training? Are you good at it? Do you know what you're doing? If so, then start the scale out. Don't go too far too much too soon, but you can have between 30 and 40 clients doing hybrid training easily if you get to the right level and earn a good income from it.
[00:10:24] Josh Kennedy: Absolutely. And that was my last, uh, going to be my last point, which you guys can jump in on as well about following a system, having some sort of system, uh, assessment system for training clients, a system for building programs that could be based on any SM system or Mike Boyle CFSC system or strength matters, training system, whatever it is, it's really important having a system because it gives you predictable results every single time.
[00:10:51] Wouldn't you agree?
[00:10:51] James Breese: Yeah, absolutely. It's, you can't. You don't know what you're doing wrong if you don't follow a system. Because if you keep making stuff up in your head, and again think about when we [00:11:00] first started training people on the shop floor, on the gym floor. We used to make shit up in our heads all the time.
[00:11:05] Right? It was just the way it was. There was no software back then. That might
[00:11:09] Josh Kennedy: work occasionally,
[00:11:10] James Breese: but Yeah. Exactly, and you can see, and there is an element of good to that, because you can see what people are like as they walk in to change the plan, but, with the advent of personal training software, You can create programs and adapt them on the fly as you need to.
[00:11:23] But the idea is it's about a system to follow back and go, well, how do I get these results? How do I get a system of like getting and producing results time and time again? So for us, we have a system of fat loss. If it doesn't work, we go, well, why isn't it working? We need to change it or try something different.
[00:11:39] Eight times out of 10. It always works because it's a system that we know down to go to, and it takes the thinking process out of the whole equation. So allows us to get straight into it. And we know exactly what we're doing. We don't waste time. You're boom. Here we go, guys. This is what we're doing.
[00:11:52] Josh Kennedy: Yep, 60 percent of the time it works every time, hey?
[00:11:55] I love one. Andrew, before we wrap up, [00:12:00] anything you want to add in?
[00:12:01] Andrew Wallis: Just, you know, follow the KISS principle. Keep it simple, stupid. You know, and I'm not calling people stupid, it's just that's part of the Oh, we are. We're very stupid. We are stupid, but we can make it work by following the systems and, um, and, and put them into play.
[00:12:16] Josh Kennedy: Exactly. Uh, hope you enjoyed that guys. That is it for today. Please don't forget to rate review and subscribe. And if you want to find out what's holding you back from growing your fitness business, get yourself a free website audit by going to strength matters. com forward slash audit.